Men’s Downhill Rescheduled Due To High Winds
Feb 5, 2022, 10:14 PM
06 February 2022, China, Yanqing: Olympics, Alpine skiing, downhill at the National Alpine Ski Center. The wind blows strongly across the slope. The race was postponed again due to bad weather. Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa (Photo by Michael Kappeler/picture alliance via Getty Images)
(Photo by Michael Kappeler/picture alliance via Getty Images)
BEIJING (AP) — The first event of the Alpine skiing schedule at the Beijing Olympics has been postponed because of strong wind that made it too dangerous to race.
No new date for the men’s downhill has been announced.
The first women’s race is scheduled for Monday.
MEDIA ALERT🚨
Due to the wind gusts and the updated forecast, it has been decided in the best interest of safety and fairness for the racers to delay todays men’s Olympic downhill to another day.More info on a new date and start time will be forthcoming. #Olympics
— U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team (@usskiteam) February 6, 2022
Mikaela Shiffrin of the U.S. is set to defend her Olympic gold from 2018 in the giant slalom.
At the top of the speed course, the wind was whipping at 30 mph, with gusts up to 40 mph, when the men’s race originally was scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
#CURRENTMOOD (courtesy of RCS) in team hospitality, as we wait to see if we’ll race the downhill today or not at @Beijing2022. 💤 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/QH2yYiioaN
— U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team (@usskiteam) February 6, 2022
The start was delayed three times for a total of three hours in the hope that the wind would relent.
But eventually the decision was made at 1 p.m. to put it off to another day.
